Conclusion: Better photos and videos, but not thanks to sensor upgrades

Both the 200 MP main camera and the 5x telephoto lens have a significantly larger aperture, allowing much more light to reach the sensor. For the main camera, the jump from F/1.7 to F/1.4 corresponds to a 47% increase in light intake. With the 5x telephoto lens, the F/2.9 aperture of the periscope module should result in a 38 percent brighter photo, assuming parameters like shutter speed and ISO remain constant.

Hence, it can be assumed that the automatic settings of these two Galaxy S26 Ultra cameras will adjust the shutter speeds and ISO values accordingly thanks to the larger aperture, resulting in less noisy and sharper photos, especially in low light. Combined with many other new software features and an improved ISP in the Exynos 2600 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, respectively, we can definitely expect better photos and videos in the Galaxy S26 Ultra, even if there are likely to be disappointingly few changes to the sensor hardware.